Yearly archives: 2015

Real ale and cider lovers will be setting their reminders for 9am on Tuesday September 1^st when advance tickets go on sale for Manchester’s biggest beer festival.

Now in its third year, the Manchester Beer & Cider Festival is organised by the Greater Manchester branches of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA). And drinkers will have a new venue as the festival moves to Manchester Central in the heart of the city, following two successful years at Manchester Velodrome.

The celebration of local, regional and national brewing runs from Wednesday 20^th to Saturday 23^rd January 2016. Over 500 beers, ciders and perries will be available to enjoy in the main hall. Established brewery favourites like Hawkshead, Outstanding and Bollington will be joined by the best of new brewers such as Silver Street and Stockport Brewing.

Organisers are anticipating bigger crowds than 2015’s record-breaking attendance. Local lovers of Britain’s national drinks will form much of the attendance, but the event generates visitors to the city from the rest of the UK and abroad. Many drinkers want the certainty of gaining entry to the sessions. The online ticketing provided in association with EventBrite provides just that.

Tickets will be priced from just £3.00 and are available from the festival website, www.mancbeerfest.uk/tickets and its Facebook page. And to reward early bird bookings, a 50p discount will be automatically applied until the end of September.

Festival Organiser Graham Donning said: “No one wants to travel to a much-anticipated event only to be left queuing outside as we reach capacity. Booking tickets in advance guarantees entry and allows many to plan their visit to Manchester. The festival is the centrepiece, but we also expect many of the city’s pubs and breweries to be running fringe events. It will make this four days of liquid fun.”

The 2015 festival attracted nearly 11,500 visitors who enjoyed almost 39,000 pints of cask ale and 4,000 pints of cider and perry. More than 300 CAMRA members volunteer to set up and serve at the festival.

For further information, contact:
David Rigby
Via contact page

ENDS

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. The full schedule of prices (before early bird discount is):

Wednesday: £3
Thursday: £3 before 5pm; £4 after
Friday: £4 before 5pm; £6 after
Saturday: £4

2. Early bird discount of 50p per ticket is applicable from 1st – 30th September 2015.

2. Images from previous festivals can be found at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mancbeerfest

Issued 10th May 2015

For Immediate Release:

MANCHESTER BEER & CIDER FESTIVAL TO PEDAL TO PASTURES NEW

British Cycling prevent flagship festival’s return to Manchester Velodrome …

Despite attracting over 20,000 beer fans to the Manchester Velodrome over the past two January’s with visitors travelling from around the world to attend, the Manchester Beer & Cider Festival will be moving on to pastures new. Although organisers The Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) had hoped to take the regions’ premier celebration of malt & hops back to the National Cycling Centre in 2016, the centre’s management have been unable to come to an agreement with main tenant British Cycling over a date for the 2016 event.

Festival organiser Graham Donning said “This is extremely disappointing. The Velodrome has made an excellent setting for Manchester’s premier beer & cider event and both CAMRA and the NCC management wanted to continue to build on the success of the event.”

“Over our two years, we did everything we could to accommodate the wishes of the Team GB coaches and minimise any disruption to their training programme. We were prepared to do so again, including moving the event to a time when the team was away. Sadly, despite the efforts of the NCC management to negotiate and our willingness to be flexible, we have to accept that British Cycling are the main tenants and effectively have a veto on which events are held in the Velodrome.

The 2015 festival featured over 500 beers & ciders from breweries across the region and beyond – ranging from exciting new microbrewers like Silver Street & Thirst Class to historical names such as Robinson’s and Thwaites. Over 11,000 people attended, an increase of 1000 over the 2014 inaugural event, with comments on social media lauding both the quality and range of beers on offer and the spectacular setting.

Graham and his team are looking to bring a similar exciting range of beers to a new home for 2016 and are already in discussions with a number of venues across Manchester & Salford, including exploring holding the festival in marquees to accommodate the numbers. They are also inviting potential venues who could accommodate over 2500 visitors at a time to bid to host the event.

Graham added “Manchester is known nationwide as a hotbed for the renaissance in British Brewing and we are determined that our event will continue as the region’s biggest showcase for the amazing beers now being produced in Britain. When the National Winter Ales Festival was held in Manchester, it moved venue twice and carried on. We will do the same.”
He concluded by saying “We would like to express our thanks to Jarl Walsh, Nicola O’Neill and all their staff at the NCC for all their help in making the festival at the Velodrome such a success.”

Notes to editors:
1) The Manchester Beer & Cider Festival is organised by the Greater Manchester Branches of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA).
2) The 2015 festival attracted around 11,500 customers over 4 days from 21st – 24th January 2015.
3) Potential venues need to be able to accommodate a minimum of 2000 visitors at one time, with a floor space of at least 2500 square metres. A ready supply of potable water and a power supply capable of providing 300A peak load.